BedHead

1- Hands down Berkeley in terms of social sciences. But I say that how important the differences are to you may depend on what you want to do afterwards. If you want to go to academe, go to Berkeley for sure, IMO. If you are just picking up a general liberal arts degree and plan to do something else, I am not sure the differences will matter all that much. Especially if you do social sciences, and most especially if you do economics, try to do the math-heavy version. Berkeley offers two tracks in economics; one track that is more math-focused than the other track. The math-focused one is the one that gets one respect. But math at Berkeley is tough and competitive, it being one of the best math schools in the world. Can you handle the math? I don't know if I could have.
2- Frankly, very few people have heard of UCL in the US. People have by and large heard only of Oxbridge. The funny thing is I have read that in the UK UCL has been overtaking Oxford in terms of reputation. There was one of these world rankings that placed several UK universities and places like McGill and HKS&T I think it was above both Stanford and Berkeley; that may be the ranking you were looking at -- it was affiliated with the ranking you quoted. The ranking also put universities like Georgetown significantly below for instance Boston University, a relative placement which just seems bizarre to people from the US. Frankly, this ranking was ridiculous. IMO, Stanford and Berkeley are in some ways the top two universities in the US in terms of the breadth of programs that they have at the highest echelons. Clearly, Harvard is supreme, but not in certain fields like engineering where Stanford and Berkeley shine in addition to shining in all the areas where Harvard does. Berkeley doesn't have the undergrad reputation that Stanford does, but the fact that these powerhouses were ranked where they were, among other things undid the ranking you were talking about and said a lot about the biases of the rankers (esp. in favor of UK schools). Now, worldwide Berkeley has a strong reputation and is famous -- some might even argue moreso outside the US than here -- but the Ivies have typically gotten more attention in the UK.
3. Are you talking about directing plays or directing film or both? It sounds like film. In that case, I'd have to say UCLA or NYU might be a better bet. The Bay Area's film scene seems to revolve around the following: Pixar and George Lucas tech-heavy and animated film-making or documentary film-making. UCLA and NYU both have undergrad film schools of repute. However, if you aren't actually in them, I am not sure what benefits you'll get in terms of being close to them. At one point I wanted to do film school and looked seriously at NYU for undergrad. I'd say focus first on getting educated in order to have something to make films about. You are, however, going to have more opportunities I would think in LA or NYC, though the SF Bay Area is not totally to be sneezed at with the location of Pixar, Lucasfilms, and a variety of independents. In terms of academic appreciation, Berkeley does very well and has the Pacific Film Archive.
4 - Financial Aid: I don't know about this, but if you're an international, I don't think you have good aid opportunities. At least the dollar is low.

One thing you didn't bring up is atmosphere. I think this is important. NYU and UCL are in cities that I find interesting -- very interesting -- but on the other hand I think would have been distracting for me when I was an undergrad. Both are huge urban centers and I imagine the experience of being there for school would be very urban. (More to follow).